Councillor Prue Bray, leader of Wokingham Liberal Democrats, said “We have been overwhelmed by the strength of opposition to the Conservatives’ plans and look forward to an open public debate on this issue.

“A council debate will give us more opportunity to continue doing that.

“We are running events in the middle of the town centre each Friday and Saturday at the minute and it’s encouraging to see responses from people when they actually sit down with an open mind and look at the proposals.

“Some people are latching on to the questions of whether or not we need a supermarket or will it bring more people to the town.

“We need to take the opportunity to explain to people everything that is going to be happening.

“We are happy to provide that information to people as and when they request.”